Freelancer's Guide Series Part 2: Before You Pitch

Now that you've set up at home, it's time to start preparing to get clients. Note that we mentioned "preparing to get." Before you start sniffing around and promoting yourself to potential clients, there are a few things that you need to prepare in order to ensure that your pitch will be complete, professional and, more importantly, noteworthy. We've experienced pitching to clients and getting stumped by a question we couldn't answer or a requirement we didn't have. We don't want that to happen to you. So, here's a list of essentials that have helped us make a good impression and a successful pitch.

Determine what you're selling.

First things first, and this is pretty basic. You can't pitch without offering a product or a service. You need to determine what your marketable skills are. Are you a graphic designer? A writer? A virtual assistant? Deciding on what you want to do and what you're going to offer clients will help you tailor your whole pitch according to their needs. With that said, you should also know your limits. Never put yourself on the line and commit to something you’re not skilled in. We’ve talked to a lot of clients about their past freelancers who just says, “Yes, I can do it!” but in the end came up with half-baked outputs or in some cases, just gave up on the project. Know your strengths and focus on that first. Never commit to a project you have little knowledge about just to get the client.

Who is your target audience?

There's no such thing as "My target audience is everybody, anybody." Knowing and researching on who needs your service has a great impact in terms of your time and effort. You'll be pitching to an audience where you have the greatest chance of securing a sale. You don't sell milk to a vinegar factory. You sell it to the yogurt guy. In other words, if you're a graphic designer, you approach ad agencies, established bloggers, start-up companies, even big corporations, people who are likely to be in need of design services at a non-agency rate. Luckily, in this day and age, you don't have to peddle in the streets to market your skills. Online job boards and sites exist where potential clients post their needs and you can apply. More on these sites at a later post.

Prepare your Cover Letter

A cover letter is your potential client’s first impression of you. Some people opt not to include a cover letter in their pitch but we think that always having it handy is a best practice in freelancing. Most freelancers never get to present live to a client, especially when it’s a remote job. So think of your cover letter as your one and only chance during the online pitch to actually relay your background, your skills and key achievements, your portfolio, what you’re willing to do, your pricing and your commitment to the project. Not only that, your cover letter has to sound and look professional so always do a spelling and grammar check before you send it out. Lastly, always end with your full name and contact details.

But remember that one cover letter doesn’t fit all. You can have a standard template but you must always study the needs of the client and tailor fit your message to address them.  Not sure how to start your cover letter? You can find good tips and samples HERE.

Be Ready with your Portfolio

A portfolio is a must in your arsenal of materials if you want to impress a potential client. Your cover letter makes a promise of quality work and should be supported by samples of your best products. You can still go traditional and make hard copies, but an online portfolio is the easiest, fastest, handiest way to get your client to view your work. Just make sure to curate them well and only publish them with permission from the clients who commissioned it. Some good, free and easy-to-use platforms for your portfolio are Wordpress (blog/portfolio), Dribble, Behance, Deviantart and Pinterest.

Settle Your Pricing

Lastly, it is important to set your pricing. Why? This is the information that potential clients are most eager to know. Most want quality work for low pay, but of course this doesn’t mean that you have to short-change yourself in order to get them. Your goal must be to find that middle-ground, the sweet spot in pricing where it’s fair to the needs of both parties. Study the pricing schemes of your peers at the same level as you are. Don’t be afraid to charge more if you feel that’s what your works deserves, but don’t be unrealistic and always be open for negotiations. There’s some debate if hourly or fixed pricing is the way to go and we feel that this deserves a more elaborate explanation so this will be tackled in a dedicated post later on. Bottom line is - you should know the value of your work. Never undervalue yourself just to get a client. Let your client understand what you’re bringing to the table and its potential impact to their company/business.

Watch out for Part 3 of this series!

Read more of our Freelancer’s Guide Series: Part 1